Abstract
Importance of the field: The high prevalence of colon carcinoma combined with the low compliance rates of recommended screening guidelines may explain the continued high mortality rate of colon cancer. Utilizing a strategy of virtual colonoscopy (VC) in asymptomatic patients over 50 years, with optical colonoscopy (OC) follow-up for removal of detected adenomatous polyps, may result in lowering the colon cancer death rate. However, the screening potential of VC has not yet been widely recognized. Debates and doubts over its potential benefits have been seen frequently in the literature since VC was first reported in 1994.
Areas covered in this review: This article reviews the available screening options and discusses their advantages and drawbacks.
Take home message: Virtual colonoscopy has many advantages over the existing screening options and its several drawbacks can be mitigated so that it could become a valuable screening modality. A strategy that utilizes VC for population-based screening over the age of 50 and OC for screening high-risk individuals and those with positive VC findings would result in a significantly reduced rate of colon cancer deaths.
Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge the assistance of A Minton in the editing of this paper.
Notes
This box summarizes key points contained in the article.